This invention relates to the art of article handling and, more particularly, to apparatus for transferring articles from a fixed supply station to a moving carrier at a velocity corresponding to that of the carrier.
The present invention finds particular utility in connection with the production line transfer and assembly of penetrators and lead slugs which, when assembled, provide bullets for subsequent assembly with cartridge casings, and the invention will be described hereinafter in connection with such use. At the same time, however, it will be understood that the invention is applicable to the transfer of workpieces or articles other than component parts of bullets and to the transfer of articles or workpieces for purposes other than assembly operations.
In connection with the manufacturing of bullets, workpieces in the form of hollow metal penetrators and correspondingly shaped lead slugs are sequentially fed to a carrier in which the penetrator and slug are supported in axial alignment with one another. The carrier conveys the positioned parts to an insert press by which the slug is introduced into the penetrator. High production rates are required in connection with the manufacture of bullets and, accordingly, high rates of the feeding of the component parts from a supply point to the carrier is also required. Heretofore, either the production rate has been limited, or damage or potential damage to the workpieces has been undesirably high, as a result of impact loading on the workpieces at the supply station and/or the point of discharge to the carrier. The impact loading is caused by a velocity mismatch between the workpieces and the transfer mechanism which engages the workpieces at the supply station and displaces the workpieces to a point at which they are discharged to the carrier. Impact loading is also caused by a velocity mismatch between the transfer mechanism and the carrier. It will be appreciated, of course, that a higher speed of operation of the transfer mechanism in an effort to increase production rate results in an increase in the damage or potential damage to the workpieces by increasing the impact loading thereon, and that efforts to minimize damage to the workpieces by reducing the speed of the transfer mechanism results in a lower production rate.